ASA ONLINE - FAIRECONRON ONE (VQ1)

Army Security Agency
ONLINE
FAIRECONRON ONE (VQ1)
by Ronald H. Eddins

07-25-00

1st United States Army Security Agency Special Activities Detachment.....
attached to Fleet Air Reconnaisance Squadron One, VQ-1, United States Navy.
This was one very special unit! SAD-1 was directly subordinate to the Commanding General, ASA Pacific, chartered with special Flight Operations as directed by CG, USASAPAC. The specific missions of SAD-1 were and probably still are classified. The following details are provided for the time frame of Sep 65 through Sep 67, and are most likely influenced by a faulty memory after 30 years.

SAD-1 was composed of approximately 20 Army personnel. When I first arrived, the command structure (if that is an appropriate term) was: MAJ James P. Mergler, Commanding; LT Bobby H. Hunt, XO; MSG Black and SFC Clodfelter, Team NCOIC's, and 16 assorted and sundry enlisted guys (all males in those days!). We had a variety of Navy personnel who were responsible for the operation of our Aircraft, but the only names I can remember after all these years is our primary flight crew- LCDR Roger (Roger roger) Leonhardi, LT(jg) Mercer, and our Plane Captain, Chief Petty Officer Purser. Due to the way our missions were run, we were usually devided up into two 9-man teams, each team with an Officer , an NCO, and 7 Operators.

The aircraft we used was the Navy EA-3B, which was a twin engine (J-57 jets) Medium Range Attack/Bomber reconfigured into a one-of-a-kind Special Reconnaisance Aircraft. Actually, when I first arrived at the unit there were two aircraft; however, the unavailability of spare mission equipment parts soon necessitated elimination of one of them. The one we came to call "our plane" was Bureau of Naval Operations (BUNO) 146449. I will never forget that plane! The aircraft had a flight crew of three Naval personnel (Pilot, Navigator, and Plane Captain) and a mission crew of four Army intelligence operators (MOS was dependent upon the specific mission of the day, although most of us were cross-trained in all the intercept positions).

SAD-1 was homebased out of ATSUGI NAS, Japan, but we conducted very few missions from there. We flew our missions from just about anywhere in the Pacific . Shemya, Guam, Midway Island, Johnston Island, Hawaii, The Phillipines, if it had a runway, chances are we were there! The Navy Support teams were set up on a six-week rotation, so thats how we did it too. That meant that a given team would be out TDY for six weeks and the other team at home in Atsugi. Then they switched off with each other.

Assignment to SAD-1 was a financial windfall in those days, especially for the lower enlisted ranks. Base pay was not anything to write home about, but we could match or exceed our base pay with the "special" additions. Proficiency Pay (PRO-Pay) was $75 per month, Flight Pay was $75 per month, aand of course there was the $1/per day for TDY. We were simply rolling in money, and when we were on TDY we had almost no place to spend our money!

SAD-1 PERSONNEL 1965-67

NOTE- All ranks are approximate, and as I remember them at the time.

MAJ James P. Mergler

MAJ Eldon Craig Loe

1LT Bobby H. Hunt

1LT Willie L. Haynes

SFC Durwood M. Black

SFC Jackson M. Clodfelter

SSG Ronald G. Curtiss

SP5 Ronald R. Shaw

SP5 Donald W. Anderson

SP5 Albert W. Bauman, III

SP5 Dennis G. Osha, Sr.

SP5 Francis L. Lovell, Jr.

SP5 Richard A. Dirckx

SP 5 Melton E. Kendrick, Jr.

SP5 Ray M. Rives

SP5 Charles J. Boulanger

SP5 Ronald H. Eddins

SP5 Ralph W. Jones

SP5 Alexander G. Gillett

SP5 Donald L. Shetterly

SP5 George F. Glass, Jr.

SP5 James E. Pierce, Jr.

SP5 Carl R. Jarvis

SP5 Harold H. Schofield

SP5 Robert R. Myers

SP4 Richard S. Fukushima

RONALD H. EDDINS

RA14822097

98J5M

Oct63-Dec63	Ft. Jackson,SC(Tank Hill, D-8-2)	Basic
Dec63-Jun64	Ft. Devens,MA	Casual - 993.1 Cs.
Jul64-Jun65	TUSLOG Det. 4, Sinop,Turkey	Room 1&2, Main Ops
Jul65-Aug65	TDY Andrews AFB,VA	High Alt. Tng.
Sep65-Sep67	1stUSASASAD, Atsugi NAS, Japan	Flight Platform

Sep67-Jan70	BREAK IN SERVICE SO I COULD GROW LONG HAIR!!!!!	-
Jan70-Jan71	TUSLOG Det. 4, Sinop,Turkey.HIPPODROME	Operator
Feb71-Apr72	Ft. Hood,TX - HHC	303rd ASA Bn
May 72-Jul72	TDY Ft.Devens, MA.	SPACOL Course
Aug72-Aug73	TUSLOG Det. 4, Sinop, Turkey - HIPPODROME	Ext. Anal.
Sep73-Aug 77	Ft. Meade, MD	Duty with NSA
Sep77-Jul79	328th ASA Co., 501st MIGP, Augsburg,FRG	PCAC ELINT
Jul79-Sep80	ODCSI, HQ USASAEUR, Heidelberg, FRG	Nat'l Systems NCO
Oct80-Dec83	Ft. Huachuca, AZ	TECO, Dir. Combat Development
Dec83-Dec84	Camp Page, S. Korea	1SG, 332nd MI Co (FWD) 502 MIGP
Dec 84- ? 85	Ft. Huachuca, AZ	Dir. Eval and Std.
? 85-May87	Ft. Huachuca, AZ	1SG, USAINSBD
May87	Retired	Now living in Alabama -

Ron Eddins Email: Ron1SG@aol.com